God's Big Picture: Genesis 34:1-35:15
God's Big Picture: Genesis • Sermon • Submitted
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The gospel gives us a confident calmness in this life.
The gospel gives us a confident calmness in this life.
A Horrible Event
Jacob’s Son’s Poor Reaction
Jacob’s Poor Reaction
The Confident Calmness of God
A Horrible Event (Gen. 34:1-12)
A Horrible Event (Gen. 34:1-12)
Dinah, Jacob and Leah’s daughter, is raped by Shechem
Gen. 34:1-2
Shechem wants to marry Dinah
Gen. 34:3-12
A woman being raped is a horrible event and requires punishment, God actually gives punishment for that in Deut. 22:25-29 showing that he cares for women and wants to protect them.
After this horrible event Shechem tells his dad that he wants to marry Dinah, and they are willing to give a massive bride price for her.
Hamor even tries to convince Jacob that this is a good idea because he would be able to buy any land from Hamor whenever he wanted and could trade with the people in that land.
Hamor is trying to promise Jacob something that God has already promised him.
Jacob’s Son’s Poor Reaction (Gen. 34:13-29)
Jacob’s Son’s Poor Reaction (Gen. 34:13-29)
Jacob’s sons are furious when they hear what happened
Rightfully so! Upon hearing that a family member has been raped one should be furious at the rapist. Their anger is not their poor reaction, what follows their anger is their poor reaction...
They deceive Shechem and his men into being circumcised
The sons followed their dad’s previous life example by deceiving Shechem and his men into being circumcised (Gen. 34:13)
Circumcision in the Bible is supposed to symbolize someone entering into the covenant with God and will be blessed by God.
In the OT it was physical circumcision that was the entrance into the covenant and into God’s blessing.
In the NT it is circumcision of the heart that is our entrance into the covenant and into God’s blessing. This circumcision of the heart happens only by God’s grace alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone.
But here’s the thing with Jacob’s sons, they don’t really want Shechem and his men to be part of the covenant and to be blessed by God, they just want to cause them pain so they can take advantage of them later.
This is dreadfully sinful by these sons. using what God has intended to bless humanity to harm humanity.
While they are recovering, Simeon and Levi kill every male in the city
If you don’t know why the men would still be sore from being circumcised just ask your parents, I’m not gonna answer that haha.
But Simeon and Levi go way overboard in their retaliation on these men. Not only have they used something that God intends to bless humanity with to harm another person, they killed every man in that city.
OT Law says that in this scenario the rapist should be stoned, but it does not say that the entire city should be killed.
The rest of the brothers plunder the city
After Simeon and Levi kill all the men the other brothers plunder the city, leaving all the women and children defenseless. They’ve left these women and children in a position to be taken advantage of just like their sister was.
The unchecked anger of these sons caused them to act in a way that God would not.
Jacob’s Poor Reaction (Gen. 34:30-31)
Jacob’s Poor Reaction (Gen. 34:30-31)
Jacob knew God’s promises of land and descendents were at stake here
Jacob thought if he reacted to this horrible event that the locals didn’t like then they could gang up on him and destroy his family and prevent him from taking the promised land.
So, out of fear he does nothing about Dinah and Shechem so that he doesn’t make any enemies
In truth, he didn’t trust that God was able to keep his promises in the face of adversity, therefore he did nothing about his daughter being raped so that Hamor wouldn’t get mad at him.
Jacob knows that there should be punishment for this horrible event, but he’s too scared to do anything about it.
The narrator allowing Simeon and Levi to have the last word in Gen 34:31 shows that if Jacob would have been acting out of fear then his sons wouldn’t have overreacted out of anger.
The unchecked fear of Jacob caused him to act in a way that God would not.
The Confident Calmness of God (Gen. 35:1-15)
The Confident Calmness of God (Gen. 35:1-15)
God brings Jacob to Bethel and repeats the covenant promise to him
God tells Jacob to leave Paddan-aram and to go to Bethel, the place where Jacob had a vision of God’s ladder coming down to earth, and the place where Jacob first received the covenant promises directly from God.
God brings Jacob to this place for multiple reasons:
First, to protect him from a people group that would want to retaliate for the actions of his sons.
Second, to strengthen his faith in the One True God, not multiple gods
This is seen in them getting rid of the household gods and burying them under a tree, an ANE practice that showed that the gods were worthless. Their faith being strengthened in the One True God is also seen in them weeping over the death of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, because they bury her under a tree in the same way that they buried their household gods. But they did not weep for the household gods, they did however weep and mourn for one of their own.
Third, to repeat the covenant promises of descendents and land to Jacob, thus reassuring them that he will keep his promises. (Gen 35:11-12)
God declares that redemption will be brought about through his family
The first phrase in Gen 35:11 should sound familiar. “Be fruitful and multiply” is the same statement found in the original command to humanity in Gen. 1:28.
This original command was given to Adam and Eve so that they would spread over the earth filling it with true image bearers of God. This command be given again to Jacob shows that God is going to accomplish this filling the earth with image bearers through the family of Jacob.
We see this ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Through faith alone in his atoning death and resurrection he has secured our salvation, taken away our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh, is reforming us into his image, and has told us to go out and make disciples *image bearers* of every nation.
God poured out his wrath on sin, therefore we don’t have to be vengeful
We see that the unchecked anger of Jacob’s sons caused them to take matters into their own hands in a way that God would not. They tried to have vengeance for their sister, but God has told us that ultimately, “Vengeance is mine,” (Deut. 32:35)
God has taken vengeance on all sin in pouring our his wrath on Jesus on the cross. Jesus taking the wrath of God for sinners has accomplished God’s vengeance for all sin. Therefore, we do not have to be vengeful when someone wrongs us, in fact we can forgive (Matt. 5:38-39)
God has given us victory in Christ, therefore we don’t have to be afraid
We see that the unchecked fear of Jacob caused his to do nothing in the face of his daughter being raped. this inaction out of fear then caused his sons to overreact in their anger. Jacob’s fear caused him to act in a way that God would not. Jacob was fearful, but “God has given us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim. 1:7)
How is it that we may have this spirit not of fear but of power love and self-control? It is in the victory of Christ on the cross that we find power, love, and self-control. Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the grave won the victory over sin, death, and Satan’s kingdom, therefore in our lives we do not have to live in fear about whether or not God will protect us, provide for us, or keep his promises because he has won. And in his victory we no longer fear but we are confident in his promises.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If we go through life relying on our own power then we will constant flip flop between unchecked anger and unchecked fear when faced with tragedy. But praise be to God for he has freed us from the bondage of fear and the bondage of anger and has given us a confident calmness in his kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ.